Introduction, price, display and design
Huawei likes to launch lots of smartphones at a time and it arrived at IFA 2014 with four new handsets including the Huawei Ascend G620S.
Put the rather awkward name to one side and the Ascend G620S offers a large(ish) display at a lower price point for those who can’t afford a top-end Android smartphone.
The headline feature here is the 5-inch display which has a 720p resolution. That’s not full HD, but at a price point which should land somewhere around the £150 mark (about US$250, AU$270) that’s not a huge issue.
It means the Ascend G620S finds itself up against the likes of the Moto G 4G, Sony Xperia M2 and Samsung Galaxy Ace 3.
Couple the price with CAT 4 LTE (that’s 4G data speeds up to 150Mbps if your network allows) and the Ascend G620S is offering a big screen and LTE for all.
When it comes to design the Huawei Ascend G620S doesn’t exactly do anything special, it’s just another black plastic device.
Huawei has tried something a little different with the rear, applying a mottled leather effect for a slightly classier finish. It’s instantly ruined when you pick the handset up though, the unmistakable feel of plastic is inescapable.
It’s not awful, and the textured rear does provide a nice level of grip, allowing to keep the Ascend G620S securely in my palm.
I did find it a little on the chunky side, and combined with the 5-inch display the Ascend G620S is going to stretch the palms of those with smaller hands.
Huawei has opted to keep navigation keys below, rather than on, the screen. This adds a little bit of extra height to the handset. They were suitably responsive, as were the power/lock and volume rocker buttons located on the right side of the handset.
A 2MP camera sits above the screen, just to the right of the ear piece, while on the rear the only blemishes are an 8MP camera, single LED flash, centralised Huawei logo and a small speaker grille in the bottom corner.
I was able to peel off the rear cover of the Ascend G620S with ease – there’s a little dip in the case at the bottom allowing you to get a fingernail in – but I was disappointed to find the 2000mAh battery was sealed into the unit.
Again this isn’t a huge problem, but it’s not like the battery is locked away in a metal chassis like the Ascend G7 – it’s right there, taunting you.
You can gain access to the microSIM and microSD slot though, with the latter supporting cards up to 32GB in size.
This compliments the 8GB of internal storage nicely, which you may find fills up quite quickly if you love your apps, games and movies on the go.
Interface, performance, camera and early verdict
Running the show is a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, a 64-bit Snapdragon chip which is backed up by 1GB of RAM.
Until now 64-bit processors were reserved for high-end handsets such as the iPhone 5S, but Huawei has stuck the architecture into three of its new devices as it looks to future proof the handsets.
In terms of performance the Ascend G620S doesn’t exactly do anything special, but then why would it at its touted price tag? Navigation is smooth and I didn’t experience any lag while moving around the handset.
Something which is a little jarring is Hauwei’s Android KitKat overlay – dubbed Emotion UI. The Chinese firm took the bold decision to remove the app tray from the interface and keep all your apps on the homescreens.
While this isn’t a huge issue, for anyone who is coming from a non-Huawei Android device the implementation will feel a little alien.
Things aren’t helped with the icon design and general theme, which is built into the Emotion UI – you get version 2.3 on the Ascend G620S – as it makes everything look a little bit childish.
I would have liked to see the ability to switch to the default Android theme, which looks smarter and more professional.
Something Huawei has built into its Emotion UI is the “Simple UI” function, allowing you to take the handset back to basics. This is perfect for first time smartphone users and the elderly as it provides just the core apps in large, easy to see and hit buttons.
A nice touch on the back of the Ascend G620S is the inclusion of an 8MP snapper – Huawei could have quite easily stuck a 5MP sensor on the rear and it wouldn’t have looked out of place at this end of the market.
I only had a very brief play with the camera functionality during my hands on, but shutter speed seemed acceptable and images came out relatively well. I’ll reserve proper judgement until the full review though.
You can expect the Huawei Ascend G620S to go on sale during October 2014 in a number of markets, with exact availability and pricing to be confirmed at a later date.
Early verdict
The Huawei Ascend G620S offers just enough to make it interesting and if the price is kept at the low point we’re expecting it potentially offers decent value for money.
It will be interesting to see how the Emotion UI and 64-bit chip handle day to day usage and heavy lifting tasks, but that’s something for the full Huawei Ascend G620S review to discover.
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